


A Second Chance

by adumpsterfire



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, So here we are, and i havent been in this fandom for a while, because they're 12, but i had to, but they love eachother, its slash to an extent, this literally came to me in a dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24705124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adumpsterfire/pseuds/adumpsterfire
Summary: Eddie dies in Neibolt. But maybe he should get a second chance?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & The Losers Club, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

Eddie remembers dying. Maybe it didn’t hurt as much as it should have. He remembers the darkness of the cavern, the smell of blood, the dirt and shit all around him. The claw in his gut that he refused to acknowledge. He had been trying not to focus on that part but he remembers it. He remembers telling Richie that he fucked his mom. He remembers regretting it immediately after. He remembers laughing at his own joke anyway. Then his vision blurred and he was gone.

Now, floating in a dark room with nothing to do but think, Eddie knew that those were not meant to be his last words. God, he wished he could go back, to the beginning. He could make Richie understand how much he meant to him. He could tell him… Well. Best not to dwell on conversations that would never happen.

The darkness was empty, and oddly, so was he. He could feel nothing physically or emotionally. This was never what he thought the afterlife would be. Maybe as a kid he had thought that when you died there would be nothing, but after Pennywise… Well, magic was real to an extent, so why the hell wouldn’t souls be? Strangely, he kept that ideology with him even when he forgot it all. It was interesting what was forgotten in those years without his friends, because it seemed that his irrational fears which turned out to be not so irrational, his ideologies, and his need for his friends stayed with him for 27 years, no matter how much he changed. As an adult he had always felt a bit empty, like he was missing something that he couldn’t remember ever having. 

Maybe he should have gone to a therapist. Maybe he would have, if he hadn’t died. Whoops. 

Dying sucks. Eddie wasn’t sure how long he had been dead, but it felt like years. Maybe it had been. It was impossible to tell. The odd thing about this death was that it didn’t feel like it was final, it felt more like a waiting room. Was he waiting for something? Or was something waiting for him?

Eddie was done playing the waiting game, so he decided to do what he did best. Complain. “Hey, fuckface! Pennywise, whatever the fuck! If you're waiting for me to say something, could you stop? I’m dead, what do you want me to say? Its dark, maybe turn on a fucking light” 

A light flashed somewhere far away. Huh. That was new. 

Eddie started floating over to it. “At least it breaks the mundanity,” he muttered under his breath.

The light flashed agan, this time significantly closer. 

Interesting, Eddie thought, maybe it would kill him again. Can you even die twice? Eddie guessed they were about to find out.

Suddenly, Eddie's vision flashed white and he was sitting in the hammock in the old clubhouse that Ben had built for the losers when they were kids.

Eddie didn't feel completely like a kid, but he didnt feel like an adult either. IHe looked in the mirror hanging on the wall. His body looked like it couldn’t decide what age he was, and was switching at a rather rapid pace from him when he was 13 to him when he was 40, as if those were the only two ages that really mattered. Oddly, Eddie agreed.

When he was able to pull his vision away from his own reflection, he noticed that he was definitely not alone in the clubhouse.

“Richie?” This richie didn’t look quite right, his hair was brushed and he was sitting up straight, and Eddie automatically knew that it wasn’t really him.

“Not Quite,” Not-Richie said, “but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Eddie nodded. Not-Richie was hard to look at. Every time he looked him in the eyes Eddie remembered dying in his arms. Also, he was shiny. Like, it was like looking at the sun.

“Oh. I must have my brightness up too high. Apologies, Edward.”

Not-Richie dimmed enough that Eddie was able to look at him for more than a second at a time. “Call me Eddie, hearing Edward from his mouth is horrible.” Eddie was surprisingly calm, but he supposed that after all he’s been through this couldn’t be the weirdest thing to happen.

Not-Richie laughed Richie’s laugh, it was beautiful. Eddie missed that laugh so much already.

“Eddie, then. I want to talk to you about my brother.”

Well, Eddie knew for a fact that Richie didn’t have a brother, so the entity talking through him must be talking about it’s brother. The weird thing was that Eddie felt like he knew this brother, even if he didn’t have a clue who Not-Richie was. Not-Richie didn't seem malevolent, if anything his presence was calming, and Eddie couldn’t decide if that was his aura or if it was because he was Richie shaped. 

Eddie decided to start simple, “Who are you?”

“It does not matter who I am, in the end. I suppose you could say I am god, but I suppose you can continue to call me Not-Richie, it’s a bit on the nose but it is not incorrect.”

Well it could read his thoughts, that's interesting. 

“What is god doing in my best friend’s body?”

“I thought it might be nice for you to see someone familiar, and besides, my true form is a bit difficult to maneuver.”

“Huh, well I guess I prefer Richie to like, a giant fucking turtle or something.”

For a moment, Not-Richie looked surprised before his face quickly shifted back to neutral. 

Eddie decided to ask another question, “Who is your brother, and why do i know him?”

“You know who my brother is. Think about it for a moment.”

“I- Well shit. And I thought being an only child was tough. That's the shittiest brother you could get.”

“Pennywise, as you call him, was not so horrible in the beginning. But… times have changed. He has become cruel and heartless and he must be stopped. I wish he did not have to die but I know he must for the good of Earth.”

“He’s dead now though, isn’t he? My friends must have got ‘im, right?” If Pennywise wasn’t dead, then that means that the rest of the losers were dead, and Eddie died in vain anyway.

“Yes. He is dead. But.”

“But?”

“I want to give you a second chance. Stanly, he died for no reason. I was not his time. It was not your time. My brother’s interference completely changed the paths of your lives.”

“Yeah. I guess it did. Forgetting sucks ass.” 

“Yes. I will give you 48 hours to kill him. You will be sent back to right before the first time you entered Neibolt house. You will have your memories of this timeline, but you will be a child and you will feel how you felt then, but with a clearer mind. It will be difficult and this might be a fruitless effort but it is at least something. I am sorry I cannot do more.”

Eddie was pacing around the room as this Not-Richie talked. He was already trying to figure out what he needed to do, what he wanted to do, how to tell Richie-

“One more thing, Eddie. If you fail to kill my brother, you and your friend Stanley will be brought back here and you will pass on as the original timeline intended. I want this to work, for your sake. I can only hope you will do the right thing.”

Eddie felt off, his body was feeling lighter and his vision was blurring ong again but it somehow felt different this time. 

“Good luck, Eds. Do me proud.”

Eddie blinked and his surroundings changed. He was sitting in front of a projector, all the losers around him, and he was 12 again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie relives some shit. This is pretty much word for word the movie script but it'll be a lot more different later on.

Eddie felt like he was about to cry. The lights, the sounds, the fact that Stan was here and wasn’t dead, it was all overwhelming. He remembered this, all of it. He knew to be prepared for the clown

It was going to come out of the projector, but knowing something is going to happen doesn’t make it any less scary. It was just like those old horror movies that Eddie had used to watch with Bill before they even were friends with Richie and Stan. They used to watch the really old black and white ones like Dracula and Frankenstein. Just because they watched the movies enough times to know all the scares, didn’t mean Eddie didn’t get nightmares of a vampire sucking his blood while he’s sleeping.

Despite Eddie freezing internally, life around him continued on.

The losers, all seven of them were sitting in Bill’s garage looking at the map of Derry and the sewers. Eddie couldn’t bear to look at any of them just yet.

He could vaguely hear Bill speaking, but knew he had to be figuring out that it lived in the sewers.

“Everywhere it happens, i-it’s all connected by the sewers. And they all meet up at the-”

“The well house.” Ben interjected, he seemed surprised and Eddie knew that all he was in a time when they were still figuring things out. Maybe he should help out a bit?

“Do you mean the house on Neibolt street?” Stan said before Eddie could think of something to say.

“You mean that creepy-ass house where all the junkies and hobos like to sleep?”

Oh. That was Richie. As in, his best friend Richie, as in the guy who tried to save him even when they both knew he was already dead. That Richie. He was behind him, Eddie could turn around right now and hug him and tell him everything. He knew that if he did turn around, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from spewing everything he had wanted to say before he had died. So, he didn't. 

“I hate that place.” Beverly said softly, “It always feels like it’s watching me.”

Eddie kept his eyes trained on the map in front of him, “That's where I saw it. That's where I saw the clown.”

Ben looked about to say something, but Eddie interrupted, “That’s where It lives. It has to be.” 

It was hard to think about that encounter with Pennywise for some reason, it felt like it had just happened even though from his perspective it was years ago.

Eddie hadn’t had to think about it while he was in the void, but he felt like he definitely needed his inhaler. It was a placebo, Eddie knew that now, but even so… His brain betrayed him as he took a puff of his inhaler.

Distantly, Eddie can hear Stan saying something, but he didn’t care enough to listen.

“Can We stop talking about this?” Eddie said standing up and facing all his friends. “I- I have to tell you all something but I can’t do it now. If we stay here something bad is going to happen.”

Nobody was looking at him. Why wasn’t anybody looking at him? Eddie tore the map of Derry off the wall.

“Listen to me! Guys, please! I’m gonna have a fucking asthma attack, I can barely breath-”

Finally, Eddie heard the sound of the photo changing in the projector. Oh shit it was happening already, what the fuck was he supposed to do- 

Eddie inched away from the screen, going to stand next to Stan. The projector focused in on Georgie’s face.

“Georgie.” Bill said, it was soft but his voice was full of emotion.

Eddie couldn’t move, couldn’t breath. What had he done last time? This was too scary why did he think he could go back!-

The pictures started going faster, everyone started backing up. Eddie felt someone grab his arm.

“What the fuck is that! What the fuck is that!” Richie screamed in his ear.

“I don’t fucking know!” Eddie screamed back.

The room felt like it was getting louder, more chaotic. Eddie stared at Pennywise’s ugly white face. 

“Turn it off! Turn it off!” Beverly yelled over the noise.

Was there even any noise? It felt like there was. The world felt like static. Pennywise was staring him in the eyes. Did it know?

Mike kicked the projector stand over and the noise in Eddie’s head quieted a bit, but it was short lived because the projector turned back on. Pennywise was even closer now, but blurrier. The projector clicked again and he was gone. Eddie knew it wasn’t over.

“Open the garage door! It’s still here!” Eddie yelled. Mike was the only one who payed attention to him and, went over to the door to try to open it but he looked like it was stuck. Eddie ran over to help, and while his back was turned, he knew it was going to be behind him. What if they couldn’t open the door fast enough to save Bev?

It happened in a flash. It was in the room with them. He could hear it crawling towards Bev. Eddie pulled harder on the door and it finally gave in, sending light into the garage and saving Beverly right in the nick of time, just like last time.

Bev looked shaken when she hugged Bill, but she was alive.

“It knows where we are. We have to-”

But Bill was already walking to his bike, “This is exactly why we have to go-”

“Go?” Beverly said.

“Where?” Ben said incredulously. 

Eddie had agreed with them the first time, but this time he had to change what was supposed to happen.

“Neibolt. That’s where Gea-go-g-g-gorgie is.”

“After that” Stan said.

Richie looked like didn’t want to say it, and Eddie knew he loved Georgie, but he made the attempt nonetheless. “It’s summer. We should be outside-”

Bill clearly wasn’t in the mood for that conversation, “If you say it’s summer one more fu-fucking time-” Bill stopped whatever he was going to say. Instead he got on his bike and headed down the driveway.

“Wait! Bill stop you don’t understand-” Eddie tried, It was too late, thought, Bill was already gone.

“Guys we have to go tell him-”

Everyone was already getting on their bikes to go after him. Oh, right. These losers would follow Bill anywhere at this point. 

Beverly gave him a look, “Whatever you have to tell us can wait until after we stop him from going into that house alone.”

Right. Of course. Everyone got on their bikes and started pedaling after Bill.

“Eds!” Of course Richie was yelling right now. He seemed to think that if he didn’t yell while biking, then nobody could hear him over the wind.

“Yeah, Rich?”

“What- Uh- What do you know that we don’t? And- Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Like What?”

“You know what I mean! You're doing it right now!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At this point Eddie was trying to mess with him, and he was doing a good job, since Richie seemed pretty annoyed. Eddie snickered, he had really missed his best friend in those 21 years when he hadn't even know to be missing him.

Richie frowned, “Seriously Eds. You look like you've seena ghost!”

“You’re the one that’s actually seeing a ghost,” Eddie muttered under his breath. Maybe the wind was pretty loud after all if it covered that. 

Louder, he said, “I’ll tell you later. When I can talk to everyone at once.”

“Yeah, but! You’re not looking at anyone else like that! What did I do this time? I didn’t even make a mom joke today!”

Eddie gives him a look. He didn’t believe that, even if he couldn’t remember what they had already done that day very well. It had been a while since he had lived this day.

“Okay fine, I haven’t in the past 30 minutes!”

Eddie sighed.

“Is this about me grabbing your arm when the clown attacked? Look I’m sorry okay, I was scared-”

“Can’t blame you for being scared, Rich. That’s not it.” Eddie sighed again, heavier this time. “I promise i’ll tell you later. It’s nothing you did, well... at least not yet.”

Richie looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was. Eddie just looked back at the road and started pedaling harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to update this weekly, but we'll see how it goes.


End file.
